Best Laid Plans: Adapting Your Ski Tours in Changing Conditions
- Henry
- Jul 3
- 4 min read
We all have hopes and dreams for every ski day - but kit issues, fitness, timing and the weather can all cause plans to be altered and changed. Skiing Unlocked breaks down how to still have an amazing day on the skin track.
At least one day in every "boys trip" we have each year, we try and go ski touring. One of the biggest ski days of our collective winters, this is one we are always excited for and often mark the calendar well in advance.
This year, we tried to squeeze in a couple of touring days, as our gear, experience and fitness (aha) allowed us to push out more and more.
But the weather and kit difficulties meant our plans were forced to change. This is how to adapt your plans to score an amazing day regardless of what the world throws at you.
Adopt, Adapt, Improve - Col des Fours
On our first day, we set off to cross the Col des Fours. This route is one we had done before, setting off from the Col d'Iseran at 2,770, dropping down to the foot of the Pays Desert at 2,550m, the skiing up to the Col at 2,970m.
However, on our way to the jumping off point we were immediately greeted by thick, pea soup fog and high winds. Despite a twenty minute wait for the cloud to blow over at the top, it wouldn't budge.
So instead of turning right at the top of the lift, we turned left, and left the cloud behind as we climbed to the top of the Pisaillas, before striking out into the Pays Desert - deserted land.
All morning the cloud refused to budge off the Col we had been aiming for. Instead, we scored some serious powder in the Pays Desert by staying in the sun and picking our lines carefully - north facing to avoid sun and wind crust.
Did we earn our turns? Yes, by skiing down from Pays Desert further along the valley than ever before and skinning back to the lift. Here we found almost untracked powder, and some serious vert - nearly 600m from the top of the lift to the foot of the run. Our thighs were screaming by the time we got to the bottom, turn after perfect powder turn really putting us through the wringer.
Mission? Accomplished.
Getting Home Safe - Pointe de la Sana
Two days later, we tried again - this time heading out to the Balme de l'Our and, ideally, the Pointe de la Sana. Today was similar, but from a different angle.
Gear difficulties meant we didn't get going until 0930, when we had hoped to be on the lift before 0900. This will be important later.
Our target today was Pointe de la Sana, a 3,000m peak that rivals the Grand Motte for notable peaks in the Tignes-Val d'Isère area. To get there involves a fairly gentle climb to the foot of a col, a sharp uphill to the top of the col, then go the reverse of the peak.
Our late start was met by a sharp wind as we went up the Borsat lift to access the high, south facing traverse to access the skin track. Immediately the peak became out of question due to the exposure.
As we skied along, we encountered soft, soft spring snow and dangerous avalanche aspects. The late start meant that the snow had an extra half an hour in the sun, and so had become more unstable than if we were on time.
At one point, we stopped, de-skinned, put in a few turns, and kick turned up a new face to avoid a particularly dangerous aspect. All good, but another 30 minutes added to our delays.
Pretty soon, it became clear that the Col was out of reach, too. We were beginning to physically tire from the constant line changes, and mentally strained from staying on top of our avalanche decision making. Our exit from the route, too, was along a narrow, avalanche prone gully that grows more and more risky in the afternoon sun - this was no time for a sunset tour back to resort.
Therefore, we stopped short of the col, de-skinned quickly and set off down the hill. Again, we used our experience from earlier in the week to pick the best powder down the north facing aspects, and scored some serious, serious powder turns on the way down.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the gully, by the foot of the Manchet lift, we stopped, breathed a sigh of relief, and finally had our lunch.
We had all made it home safely. We had scored some awesome powder along the way. We had pushed ourselves physically but safely in an extreme environment. And we surrounded ourselves by the most extraordinary vistas possible.
I was genuinely proud of ourselves today - yes, our route planning needs more work, but our decision making to stay safe and have fun was genuinely excellent on the day.
.jpeg)
